What do you do when you’ve finished your Bachelor’s in Artificial Intelligence or related degree and need some additional education and training…but don’t want to go through a master’s program? You sign up for an Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning graduate certificate program instead!
What are Artificial Intelligence Graduate Certificate Programs?
An AI graduate certificate program allows busy working professionals to build upon their undergraduate knowledge and practical experiences, developing and refining in-demand skills in AI, machine learning, statistics, deep learning, and associated topics. AI and ML grad certs typically take a year or less to complete, often less than half the time to finish a master’s. In many cases — such as with Drexel — grad students can even use their course credits towards a full graduate degree later if desired.
More and more, organizations are looking for employees who have the specialized AI and ML skills necessary to do advanced work. Savvy employers realize that those skills can be obtained faster and just as effectively through an AI or ML graduate certificate program versus a full master’s degree.
Who are AI Certificate Programs Designed For?
AI and ML graduates certificates are an ideal opportunity for recent bachelor’s program graduates. They’re also the perfect solution for working professionals who 1) love the fields of AI, ML, computer science, engineering, or robotics, and 2) are ready to take their skills to the next level and advance their careers.
Programming languages, natural language processing, computer vision algorithms, and advanced mathematics are just a few of the core and advanced AI and ML skills you can master through a graduate certificate. Additional specialized competencies can be developed through your choice of electives. Combined, these skills will empower you to be more competitive for higher positions and qualify for a promotion or raise. This newfound expertise can be applied immediately in the field, without waiting to finish a graduate degree.
Starting an AI or ML certificate program is also a fantastic way to “test the waters” before jumping headfirst into a graduate AI program. After all, grad school courses are super challenging and not everyone is ready for the commitment.
It’s always nice to have the option to count credits towards a master’s later, either at the same school or by transferring credits. That said, remember that not every master’s program accepts all credits for transfer, so your best bet may be to stay with the same university. Drexel’s Graduate Certificate in AI program allows students to terminate at the grad certificate level or continue towards a Master’s in AI (or Computer Science or Data Science)!
Types of AI Graduate Certificate Programs
When it comes to AI graduate certificate programs, there is no “one size fits all” model. Like full degree programs, AI graduate certificates may be completed online, on-campus, or via a hybrid method (i.e., partially online). Students can enroll in a program focused solely on AI or ML; it’s simply a matter of preference and availability.
Popular examples include:
Online
- Stanford University Online – Artificial Intelligence Graduate Certificate
- University of South Dakota – Artificial Intelligence Graduate Certificate
On-Campus
- George Washington University – Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence
- University of Missouri – AI and Machine Learning Graduate Certificate
- Johns Hopkins University – Artificial Intelligence Graduate Certificate (courses offered online or virtual live)
Hybrid
- Drexel University – Graduate Certificate In Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning (offered online or on-campus)
- The University of Texas at Dallas – Graduate Certificate in Applied Machine Learning (offered online or on-campus)
You might consider signing up for an Artificial Intelligence graduate certificate in a related field such as Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or Robotics which also offers focus courses in AI or ML. For example, Worcester Polytechnic Institute offers a Graduate Certificate and Advanced Graduate Certificate Programs in Computer Science with numerous AI depth course options.
Coursework for AI Graduate Certificate Programs
An AI graduate certificate generally requires between 12 and 15 credits to complete, allowing for a mixture of required core coursework plus electives.
Note: this number doesn’t include prerequisite courses necessary for program admittance.
Prerequisites may include courses such as C/C++, linear algebra, or statistics and probability. If prereqs haven’t been completed, it may still be possible to apply for provisional acceptance, depending on the program and which classes you’re missing.
Typical core classes vary by program, but a few common ones include:
- Algorithms for Data Science
- Applied Machine Learning
- Artificial Intelligence
- Creating AI-Enabled Systems
- Foundations of Algorithms
- Introduction to Machine Learning
AI Certificate Program Structure
Most AI or ML graduate certificate programs are structured to be completed quickly and efficiently. However, courses are typically the same ones offered to master’s degree students; thus classes run the standard length of the term unless the program is specifically designed to be standalone with shorter courses to expedite completion.
On-campus courses must be attended in real-time, naturally, but online courses can usually be completed asynchronously at your convenience. Some courses may be taught “virtual live” allowing students to attend remotely via teleconferencing.
Unless the program’s description states otherwise, students can usually decide if they want to knock out all core courses first or mix things up by taking electives simultaneously. This can be very helpful during scheduling, in the event that a required course’s seats are all filled up and you don’t want a delay. Obviously, if an elective requires foundational knowledge learning from a core course, you should take the core course first.
Online Artificial Intelligence Certificate Programs
Increasingly, colleges and universities are making their AI graduate certificate programs available either fully online or partially. We’ve identified roughly 50 online programs, with more being developed each year!
While some schools advertise their programs as fully online or hybrid, others don’t make the specifics clear. If there’s a program you’re interested in that doesn’t overtly specify it’s online, dig around in the catalog to see how classes are offered. Keep in mind — some grad schools are picky about keeping online and on-campus programs separate. If in doubt, reach out to a program point of contact.
Your general online experience depends on several factors. Online AI graduate certificate programs are convenient for busy working professionals, students with families, or those who want to attend a program outside their geographical area. Depending on your circumstances, you might need to attend a 100% online program or you might have enough flexibility to do a hybrid version, going to campus on occasion for classes and events.
You’ll want to carefully review each program to check if it offers core and elective courses that interest you and will benefit your career. Take a look at the department faculty and see who is teaching those courses — professors or instructors? Ideally, it’s better to learn from the most experienced teachers possible. It’s also important to see who is doing the most cutting-edge research relevant in today’s constantly evolving world of AI.
How Much Do AI Certificate Programs Cost?
While some industry certifications are priced at a flat rate, AI graduate certificate courses are part of a college’s standard course catalog and count as academic credit. Thus, tuition is based on credit hours and the number of courses required. Different programs require a different number of overall credits.
Most classes count for three academic credits, and every school charges its own tuition rates per credit (with graduate credits costing more than undergraduate ones). Meanwhile, since a certificate requires fewer credits than a full graduate degree program, you can save up to half the cost while still obtaining a prestigious academic achievement that bolsters your career and pays for itself in the long run.
AI Certificate Cost Examples
Johns Hopkins notes that its graduate-level courses are worth three credit hours. The online cost for its Applied Machine Learning course is $4,755. Since the Johns Hopkins program requires 10 courses in total, you can expect to pay ~$47,555 in tuition costs, not including application fees, books, supplies, or other fees. Note, that figure also excludes the cost of prerequisite courses.
Keep in mind, Johns Hopkins is one of the premier higher education institutions in the world, so tuition runs high. Other AI graduate certificate courses will be significantly less. On a vastly more affordable scale, the University of South Dakota’s Artificial Intelligence Graduate Certificate only requires four classes. That’s 12 credits at a graduate tuition rate of $470.45 per credit hour, for a total tuition cost of only $5,645.40.
Schools with Artificial Intelligence Graduate Certificate Programs
Air Force Institute of Technology
Certificate in Data Science - Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning Track
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Boise State University
Graduate Certificate in Machine Learning
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Boston University
Linguistics Graduate Certificate
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California Institute of Technology
Certificate in Machine Learning for Advanced Analytics
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California State University-Sacramento
Online Graduate Certificate in Intelligent Systems
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Case Western Reserve University
Accelerated Certificate in Artificial Intelligence & Deep Learning
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Columbia University in the City of New York
Online Certificate in Artificial Intelligence
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Columbia University in the City of New York
Online Certificate in Computer Science - Intelligent Systems
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Columbus State University
Graduate Certificate in AI and Machine Learning
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Cornell University
Online Certificate in Machine Learning
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Cornell University
Online Certificate in Marketing AI
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DePaul University
Online Certificate in Artificial Intelligence for Enterprise
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DePaul University
Online Certificate in Fundamentals of Statistics and Machine Learning Using R
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DePaul University
Online Certificate in Machine Learning and Deep Learning
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DePaul University
Online Certificate in Robotic Process Automation
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Drexel University
Online Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
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Duke University
Online Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence for Product Innovation
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Eastern Kentucky University
Online Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence in Data Science
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Emory University
Online Artificial Intelligence-Powered Augmented Data Science
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Florida Atlantic University
Artificial Intelligence Certificate
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George Washington University
Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence
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Georgetown University
Online Certificate in Artificial Intelligence Management
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Georgia State University
Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence Business Innovation
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Illinois Institute of Technology
Certificate in Computational Intelligence
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Johns Hopkins University
Online Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence
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Lamar University
Certificate in Machine Learning
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Louisiana State University
Online Graduate Certificate in Cloud Computing and Machine Learning
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Marquette University
Online Certificate in Machine Learning for Engineering Applications
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Maryville University
Online Artificial Intelligence (AI) Certificate
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Maryville University
Online Certificate in Machine Learning
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Michigan Technological University
Online Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Certificate
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Milwaukee School of Engineering
Machine Learning Graduate Certificate
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Missouri University of Science and Technology
Online Graduate Certificate in AI, Machine Learning and Automation in Business
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Montclair State University
Certificate in Computational Linguistics
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Mt. San Antonio College
Online Artificial Intelligence in Business Certificate
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Naval Postgraduate School
Certificate in AI for Military Use
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New Jersey Institute of Technology
Certificate in Artificial Intelligence
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North Dakota State College of Science
Certificate in Autonomous Systems Technology (AST)
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Northwestern University
Certificate in Artificial Intelligence
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Norwich University
Online Certificate in Artificial Intelligence & Data Analytics/Visualization
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Oakland University
Certificate in Data Analytics and Machine Learning (ML Ops) on the Cloud
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Ohio State University-Main Campus
Certificate in Computational Analysis of Language
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Portland State University
Graduate Certificate In Computational Intelligence
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Prairie View A & M University
Graduate Certificate in Deep Learning for Artificial Intelligence
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Princeton University
Certificate in Robotics and Intelligent Systems
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Princeton University
Graduate Certificate Program in Statistics and Machine Learning
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Purdue University
Post Graduate Certificate in AI and Machine Learning
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Purdue University-Northwest
Online Certificate in Cybersecurity Artificial Intelligence
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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Graduate Certifcate in Machine Learning and AI
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Rochester Institute of Technology
Advanced Certificate in Artificial Intelligence in Computer Science
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Rutgers University
Online Certificate in Machine Learning for Electrical and Computer Engineers
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Sacred Heart University
Graduate Certificate in Intelligent Computing
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Saint Joseph's University
Online Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence
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Saint Louis University-Main Campus
Online Certificate in Machine Learning for Artificial Intelligence - Classification Methods and Algorithms
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Saint Louis University-Main Campus
Online Certificate in Machine Learning for Artificial Intelligence - Regression Methods and Algorithms
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Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
Online Artificial Intelligence Certificate
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San Diego State University
Online Certificate in Computational Linguistics
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San Francisco State University
Online Certificate in Computational Linguistics
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San Francisco State University
Online Graduate Certificate in Ethical Artificial Intelligence
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San Jose State University
Certificate in Computational Linguistics
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Stanford University
Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence
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Stanford University
Professional Certificate in Artificial Intelligence
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Stevens Institute of Technology
Online Graduate Certificate In Application Of Machine Learning To Pharmaceutical Development
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Stevens Institute of Technology
Online Graduate Certificate In Artificial Intelligence In Engineering Design
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Stevens Institute of Technology
Online Graduate Certificate In Autonomous Robotics
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Stevens Institute of Technology
Online Graduate Certificate in Machine Learning
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The University of Akron
Certificate in Artificial Intelligence
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University of Alaska Anchorage
Graduate Certificate in Business Analytics and AI
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University of Arizona
Online Graduate Certificate in Natural Language Processing
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University of California-Berkeley
Online Certificate of Completion in Artificial Intelligence: Business Strategies and Applications
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University of California-Irvine
Online Certificate in Machine and Deep Learning
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University of California-San Diego
Online Specialized Certificate in Machine Learning Methods
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University of Chicago
Certificate in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science for Leaders
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University of Dayton
Graduate Certificate in Autonomous Systems
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University of Florida
Online Graduate Certifcate in Machine Learning
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Online AI in Medicine Certificate
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Graduate Certificate in Computational Linguistics
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University of Louisville
Online Certificate in Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
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University of Maryland-College Park
Graduate Certificate in Robotics
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University of Maryland-College Park
Online Professional Certificate in AI Leadership for Healthcare
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University of Michigan Dearborn
Online Intelligent Systems in Engineering Applications Certificate
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University of Michigan-Flint
Online Graduate Certificate in Intelligent Systems
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University of Missouri-Columbia
AI and Machine Learning Graduate Certificate
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University of Missouri-St Louis
Certificate in Artificial Intelligence
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University of Nebraska at Omaha
Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence
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University of New Orleans
Graduate Certificate in Machine Learning and AI
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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Graduate Certificate in Computational Linguistics
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University of North Carolina Charlotte
Graduate Certificate in Applied Artificial Intelligence
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University of North Texas
Graduate Academic Certificate in Computational Linguistics
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University of South Carolina-Columbia
Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence
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University of South Dakota
Online Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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University of Southern Mississippi
Certificate in Uncrewed Maritime Systems
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University of St. Thomas
Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence
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University of Tennessee Knoxville
Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
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University of Texas at Arlington
Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence
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University of Texas at Arlington
Graduate Certificate in Deep Learning
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University of Texas at Arlington
Graduate Certificate in Unmanned Vehicle Systems
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University of Texas at Austin
Online Post -Graduate Certificate in AI & Machine Learning
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University of Texas at Dallas
Online Graduate Certificate in Applied Machine Learning
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University of Utah
Certificate in Computational Linguistics
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University of Washington - Seattle
Online Certificate in Machine Learning
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University of Washington - Seattle
Online Certificate in Natural Language Technology
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University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Online Graduate Certificate in Digital Marketing and Artificial Intelligence
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Walsh University
Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning Certificate
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Washington University in St. Louis
Graduate Certificate in Data Mining & Machine Learning
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Wayne State University
Online Artificial Intelligence (AI) Certificate
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Wayne State University
Online Autonomous Vehicle Technologies Certificate
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Webster University
Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence
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Western New England University
Online Graduate Engineering Certificate In Artificial Intelligence
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Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Online Graduate Certificate in Robotics Engineering
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Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Online Graduate Certificate in Robotics Engineering - Autonomous Vehicles Specialization
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